Dolph Lundgren is a "B" movie actor and I couldn't be bothered to watch any of his stuff, though I did enjoy him in Rocky IV and Universal Soldier.

Van Damme has made some pretty bad movies after he fell out of public favor. I however liked Bloodsport, Kickboxer, Universal Soldier, The Quest, Time Cop and my favorite of his, Lionheart. I am interested to see if his attempt at his new movie for 2007 "Kumite" will go right to video like other of his crap or will hit the big screens ... we shall see.

Steve Segal ... I can take him or leave him. I didn't mind On Deadly Ground or Under Siege, they weren't too bad, but he also had his time and place.

The thing is with these guys and others, they sparked our interest for a time but they cannot get out of those characters and we become bored of them. They are too one dimensional and there is only so many times I want to see the same stuff over and over just with a different name. If Bruce Lee wouldn't have died at such a young age people would have become bored of him as well ... heck I did. Jet Li, same thing. Jackie Chan ... at least he is comical and has big name actors and big budgets for his movies and there is something about him that can draw a crowd because he has branched out further then these guys. I don't think he is a great martial artist, don't get me wrong, though I do think he has some good skills but he is entertaining ... that sells.

_________________________"IF I COME ... I'M BRINGING THE PAIN WITH ME"

Van Damme has made some pretty bad movies after he fell out of public favor. I however liked Bloodsport, Kickboxer, Universal Soldier, The Quest, Time Cop and my favorite of his, Lionheart. I am interested to see if his attempt at his new movie for 2007 "Kumite" will go right to video like other of his crap or will hit the big screens ... we shall see.

Check out "Wake of Death", that's actually a very good Van Damme flick, he actually acts in it and acts very well! Kind of edgy, too, with a pretty brutal torture scene....

...As far as good MA's on screen, look for big things in the future from Wu Jing. If you haven't seen "Sha Po Lang" yet, all I can say is...holy crap!

And now for me bad flick pick:

"Rikki Oh"....This film is 2 things to me. It's one of the worst martial arts flicks I've ever seen, and its also the funniest movie I've ever seen! The hero studies Qi Gong (Chi Gung?). Then one day gets sent to prison after killing a drug dealer by punching a hole in his skull...I'l repeat that: He punches a hole in his skull! Right after the drug dealer unload 2 few rounds in his torso. When he gets to prison, the gaurds ask why he didn't have the bullets removed, and Rikki replies "Souvenirs." That's a winner. While in prison, Rikki makes friends with a retard who had his tongue cut off by teaching him how to a play a flute. Instantly. By the way, any MA that can teach me to make leaf sound like a flute is okay by me.

Then while he's hanging out in the shower, some giant fat guy named Zorro, who looks a lot like a baby, walks up and punches Rikki across a room. Rikki then proceeds to puch a hole in Zorro's stomach. There's also dude named Tarzan who runs around with a trident, crushing peoples' skulls, who in turn has his face punched off, his hands explodededed, and crushed in some sort of pressing machine..trap..thing...Oh yeah, and there's some fruity dude named Rogan who comes flying out of a sewer to kick a dog in half....I swear, I'm not making this stuff up....

Van Damme is a putrid actor and run of the mill as a FILM martial artist. Those of you hating on anything involving wire work should really understand the difference. Yuen Wo Ping compares it to playing with marionettes, which is in a sense it's own seperate martial art - where the emphasis is way more on the art.But back to Van Damme - I have never seen a fight sequence in any of his films where I was like WOW! It seems like we're supposed to be SOOOO dazzled by his physique and hammy grin that we'll eat up anything he does. Well, I never have. I've also read several articles stating that he is very negligent about safety on set.Dolph Lundgren is worse - a tool, a meatbag and more one dimensional than paper.

I'm not the final authority or anything, but I prefer films like Kung Fu Hustle (originality, humor, creativity, FUN) or Hero (nonlinear storytelling, multi faceted philosophy/politics, GOOD STORY) because they try to do something different with the genre, not just fill some bottom rung male need to "blow stuff up".That's just me though. To each their own, as we say around here ALOT.

Quote:Van Damme is a putrid actor and run of the mill as a FILM martial artist.

On the whole I agree, though wake of death was a corker! i even started a thread just for it when i first saw it. Very different from what you would expect fron JCVD, and better for it.

Quote:Those of you hating on anything involving wire work should really understand the difference. Yuen Wo Ping compares it to playing with marionettes, which is in a sense it's own seperate martial art - where the emphasis is way more on the art.

I dont hate it, but I think it is overused to the extent that it has lost its ability to thrill.

Quote:But back to Van Damme - I have never seen a fight sequence in any of his films where I was like WOW!

I thought the action/fight sequences in Hard Target worked incredibly well, far better than the overrated western John Woo projects Broken Arrow and Face Off.

Quote:I've also read several articles stating that he is very negligent about safety on set.

Thats not his job. He is an actor. It is the Director and stunt coordinator who have this responsibility.

Quote:Dolph Lundgren is worse - a tool, a meatbag and more one dimensional than paper.

He was awesome in Johnny Mneumonic, a fun psycho in U-sol, and the guy was Drago for heavens sakes! not to mention having about the best real life martial arts credentials of any action star, so go easy on him

Quote:I'm not the final authority or anything, but I prefer films like Kung Fu Hustle (originality, humor, creativity, FUN)

Am i the only one who missed the joke with kung Fu hustle? it just wasnt funny, and ended up resorting to a CG 'live' manga ending that was just lame.

I still have to go with "Game of Death"- the originally released version.....just horrible, with actual cutouts of Bruce's face taped/pasted to the screen.Sidekicks is pretty lame too. The mullet count alone is enough to make it a laugher!

- Agreed on John Woo flicks, but I did like the action scenes in Face/Off, despite the dumb story. Of course, most of them were just reshoots of his best hong kong movies.

- I forgot about Lungren in Johnny Pneumonic. Is it me, or was that movie a bit under rated? I'm a big William Gibson fan though...

- Agreed the end of Kung Fu Hustle was kinda lame. But dude, revisit the scene with the two assasins with the shamisen-like instrument of death. Trips me out every time I see it. And I love the crazy landlady!

- I've NEVER SEEN GI JANE! I refused to on account of my love for Alien and Blade Runner, Scott's real gifts to cinema. When the whole world is saying a movie is crappy, I usually skip it unless it's forced down my throat.How embarassing though...